An announcement will be made “soon” by the US government on the compensation for the damage caused by an American warship on internationally-famous Tubbataha Reef off Palawan province, Washington’s envoy to Manila said Monday.
Washington has offered compensation to the Philippines for the damage caused by the USS Guardian, which the Philippine government estimated to cost around P58 million or $1.3 million.
Environmentalists and militant groups have filed a complaint against the US before the Supreme Court to demand for compensation after the US vessel ran aground the reef in January 2013, damaging over 4,000 square meters of the coral outcrop.
“We are going through the last phase of the review. You know whenever something like this happens, it requires various legal and other review and I am convinced that very soon, we will have an announcement to make,” Ambassador Philip Goldberg told a media forum at the US Embassy in Manila.
Goldberg said the US government received and took note of the Philippines’s review and recommendations while US officials conducted its own investigation.
The US military had to dismantle the ship to remove it and to prevent further damage to the reef, which is a United Nations-declared world heritage site.
The US military has since relieved the ship’s officers and crew for the incident, saying they failed to adhere to standard navigation procedures.
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